Musicians, we’ve all been there. Sucked into the rabbit hole of YouTube late one night, just scrolling through numerous videos of bands, until you find it. The slightly grainy quality. The potentially wobbly footage. The audio straight from the phone or camera. That video that makes you instantly bop your head, and rewind at least 100 times. That video that makes you evangelise it to all your muso friends, eagerly watching their reaction as that killer lick lands perfectly on the 1. Here’s five of the best of bands which are super locked in! (I may have to do multiple parts of this, because I’m sure there are so many)

1) United As One Tour 2013 Varo, Thad, Ayron, Titus Soundcheck (Credit: Driven2xcelfoto) - Note: you have to watch this on YouTube, so click the link before

First of all, thanks to Driven2xcelfoto for capturing so many moments from this incredible tour (especially for us musicians from around the world, who can’t get to the tours in the States).

This tour featured James Fortune, Kierra Sheard, Vashawn Mitchell and Zacardi Cortez - a stellar lineup of some of the best contemporary gospel talents of the 2010s, and the clip features the band playing an old number by Vashawn called “No Way”, with a very updated arrangement (original here).

Band lineup: Ay’Ron Lewis (main keys), Titus Robertson (organ, aux), Thaddeus Johnson (bass), Tavarius (Varo) Johnson (drums).

The lock between the Johnson brothers Thad and Varo is always something special. One of the most killer moments is around 2:33, where Varo plays epic fills over the groove, the band cuts, and Ay’Ron adds some sweet chords in the gap. The groove then continues to build with some cymbal work, with a nice cut for Thad at 3:14, before they finally take it up to C# where the song ends.

2) This Band is Straight Killing 🎹🥁🎶🔥

I mean, what more needs to be said about this. It’s Joe Pryor on keys, Dev Harris on drums and Ty Farmer on bass - absolutely killing Jonathan Nelson’s “The Blood”. The quality of this isn’t too bad, as it’s clearly the band’s mix through their ears.

Joe is one of the craziest keyboardists around, with his insane sense of timing, harmonic knowledge and just experimental spirit as evidenced at 3:05 where he pulls out a crazy progression, or at 1:45 where he plays these (actually quite simple chords - just take an E minor chord in second inversion and play it up chromatically) easy chords, but in such crazy timing and in a weird harmonic way that it works perfectly! The band of course, are super locked, catching every little lick and fill together.

3) Lawrence Jones Improv in Norway w/Sharay Rodney and Calvin

Contrary to what some may think, gospel is not just about flashy runs, killer bands and wild licks. It’s primarily about feel, and this video demonstrates that perfectly. A killer team of some of the best to ever do it - Lawrence Jones on guitar, Sharay Reed on bass, Rodney East on keyboards and Calvin Rodgers on drums. Lawrence and Calvin at the time were playing for Fred (Calvin was Fred’s MD), but this completely unrehearsed jam speaks so melodically, and on a spiritual level, and illustrates the importance of LISTENING.

4) Tye Tribbett-Exclusive Underground Rehearsal- GospelMusicians.com/Interviews

Soundcheck are one of the greatest gospel bands to ever be created, and they completely changed the game. Tyrone “Tye” Tribbett and GA, along with Soundcheck, were killing gospel in the 2000s, and this video taken underground by Jamal Hartwell of GospelMusicians.com, formerly GospelKeyboard.com (a super influential keyboardist for many gospel musicians who grew up in the internet era) shows why. RIP Parris Bowens, playing a guitar-like synth and main keys, Thaddeus Tribbett on bass and Pudge Tribbett on drums, as well as the rest of Soundcheck, and GA - nothing like it!

5) Lacy Comer Open The Floodgates

Not much to be said here. Lacy Comer on kit, Austin Blackmon on bass. Just watch it.